William Chrisman football coach was beaming with confidence in his team before the season started.

His goal was to be the best team in Independence and make a deep playoff run. The way the Bears played against Oak Park it looks as if Horn’s confidence may be justified.

Behind a 147-yard rushing game from quarterback James Bailey and an outstanding defensive performance, the Bears rolled to a season-opening 35-6 win over Suburban Middle Six rival Oak Park Friday at Independence All-School Stadium.

It was Chrisman’s first win in a season opener since 2009.

“We didn’t know that until coach told us last week,” Bailey said of not winning a season opener in seven years. “That was a goal of ours to get that done and we got that done for coach.”

The offense put up 29 points in the first half and rolled to a blowout win, something the program hasn’t been accustomed to doing in recent years. Bailey, the team’s standout quarterback scored two touchdowns on runs of 60 yards and 1 yard. The former came after the senior shook one defender with a stutter step and another with a juke as he scampered for the long score, which put his team ahead 7-0 just 1 minute, 21 seconds into the game.

“My younger guys really stepped up and showed how hard they have been working,” Bailey said. “They have been working hard for this moment. This is not the end, this is only the beginning. We have a lot more to come.”

He also hit Jordon Woods for a 14-yard touchdown pass on a hook route over the middle to balloon the lead to 22-0 late in the first. Bailey showed why he was the leader of the offense and why he’s running the show.

He had a lot of help, though. The Bears are loaded with capable skill position players, including Woods, who didn’t play for the team last season because of an injury, but chipped in with 37 total yards and a score. Running back Kyron Mason rushed for 38 yards and scored on a 8-yard run on a sweep with 37 seconds left in the first half to spot his team an insurmountable 29-0 edge.

“We’ve got the guys who can touch the ball and go then – home run,” Chrisman coach Scorpio Horn said. “We got Bailey stumbling, bumbling and rolling. Then everyone else feeds off of him. We were in the two-minute drill and we had a kid who didn’t play football last year, Chance Jones, and he makes a 26-yard catch.”